. >> we will find out in the morning whether any progress came out of the senate leader mitch mcconnell's meeting with vice president joe biden. >>> we've been asking you, our viewers, to send in your thoughts, your messages to elected representatives. let's close tonight with some advice from one of you to washington. >> my message to all of washington for the new year is to set partisanship aside working on behalf of 100% of the voters, fix this mess you've gotten us into, bring a balanced budget to the table to grow this economy for the long term not the short term. >> have a good night. >>> i'm don lemon, and this is cnn's top ten of 2012. this hour we look at the stories that captured our attention. what we see as the biggest stories of the year, around the world in crime, money, weather and even the biggest scandals. and later this hour, the big reveal of the most intriguing people of the year as chosen by you. we begin with the topic that dominated our coverage for much of the year. here's cnn's political correspondent candy crowley with the top phen political stories of 2012. >> p